Chloe Ard
Reporter
While The W has been home to many organizations and has long stressed the value of inclusivity, Queer Space offers a safe refuge for LGBTQIA+ students
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Maddy Anglin, a senior nursing student, decided to revamp the social group in 2023.
'“I knew that I wanted to make an impact, Anglin said. “I wanted to make a safe space. We have a lot of members of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Anglin is now the acting president of Queer Space and has implemented many changes to the group. In order to join the group, a confidentiality agreement must be signed, and members are given the choice as to whether to participated in public meetings or be published in any photos.
Anglin also wants to make an impact on the community.
“I want to do community events, like a clean-up-the-campus event, and more educational events on STD health and sex education classes,” Anglin said. “ I want to do more fundraising events for groups like The Trevor Project, or providing community members with gender-affirming care, and I want to donate to the local women’s shelter.”
Izabella Stanphill, a sophmore elementary education major and member of Queer Space, says the group does have an impact on LGBTQIA+ students.
“It’s not that the campus is not accepting, I’ve been very welcomed here. I just thought it was super cool that it’s a place for queer students by queer students. People just want their own spaces created by people like them, Stanphill said. “It’s a great organization. We’ve got a good atmosphere in the club.”
Stanphill also discussed how the campus and students could be more accepting to events held by Queer Space.
“I think that generally, people could try to be more accepting and educating themselves on queer stuff, and just opening your mind,” Stanphill said. “We hold educational panels and people don’t go to them. It’s just like going to any other event on topics. You can be a man and go to a women’s health meeting. It’s good to learn about other communities.”
Dr. Jill Drouillard, the Queer Space advisor and assistant professor of philosophy at The W, also encouraged people to be more accepting of the group’s events.
“Last semester, Queer Space put on an educational panel for students to come in and educate others about the queer community and, unfortunately, it was members of the community that were already in the know of these issues,” Dr. Drouillard said. “We would have liked to have a broader range of people in attendance, people who really need to be educated, not those who already are.”
Dr. Drouillard also stressed the importance of having a safe space for LQBTQIA+ students.
“When we did an orientation event at the beginning of last fall, I remember seeing a student that was almost in tears, like ‘I didn’t realize there were so many queers on campus.’ So, I think it does provide a safe space for students,” Dr. Drouillard said.
Some of the goals of the group are to become a more visible presence on campus, maintain student interest and keep fundraising..
Students interested in becoming a part of Queer Space can join through My Student Life on Banner after reading the club’s constitution and signing the confidentiality agreement.